Downbeat magazine declared that Richard Teitelbaum, " whose
background includes both classical music and improvised jazz, is one
of those rare individuals with the tasteful sensibility to recognize
the beauty of the synthesizer and the technological expertise to intelligently
employ it. He utilizes electronics to liberate his musical ideas, freeing
them from the technical limitations inherent in performing on traditional
instruments." Indeed, Teitelbaum is a composer and performer known
principally for his live electronic and interactive computer music. He
was a founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Curran, of Musica Elettronica
Viva in Rome in 1966. He has composed works in a variety of genres, including
compositions for the Japanese shakuhachi master Katsuya Yokoyama, pianists
Aki Takahashi and Ursula Oppens, a choral piece for twenty Japanese Buddhist
monks, and multimedia works with Nam June Paik, Joan Jonas, and others.
Teitelbaums work has been performed around the world, and he is
the recipient of many awards, including the Prix Ars Electronica from
Austrian Radio and Television; commissions from the Venice Biennale,
German Radio, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council
on the Arts, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, Meet the Composer/NEA Commissioning
Program, and Rockefeller Foundation; and Fulbright research grants for
work in Italy and Japan. His recordings appear on Tzadik, Music and Arts,
Hat Art, Wego, and Moers record labels. Teitelbaum has held teaching
positions at Vassar College, California Institute of the Arts, Antioch
College, York University in Toronto, and Milton Avery Graduate School
of the Arts. He currently is Associate Professor of Music at Bard College.